1. Related Applications
This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/144,665 filed Jan. 14, 2009 and U.S. Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/144,694 filed Jan. 14, 2009, and incorporates by reference the entirety of each thereof.
2. The Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to remediation of environmental discharges associated with production of petroleum products such as crude oil and gas, and more particularly to integrated systems for heat recovery, scrubbing stacks, and handling production brines.
3. The Background Art
The production and transport of petroleum resources (e.g. petroleouos compositions, such as crude oil, natural gas, derivatives thereof, or the like) at the well head involve many processes. Drawing, processing, heating, compressing, pumping, and otherwise handling petroleum resources retrieved from the earth can require substantial amounts of energy in their own right. Rejected heat from motors, heaters, flares, and the like have not heretofore been a problem in remote areas. Likewise, emission of particulates, discharge of production water, and the like have been treated in various ways.
What is needed is a method and apparatus for remediation of potential environmental effects of petroleum production. It would be an advance in the art to provide a method to recover, control, dispose of, or otherwise minimize the environmental impact of such flows as waste heat, salt water, entrained volatile organic compounds, and the like that may occur. It would be a further advance to solve the problems at each site, whether they occur singly or in combination. One or more of these effluents may occur at various production and transport sites, such as well heads, pumping stations, compressor stations, transport stations, and the like.
It would also be an advance in the art to provide remediation for the individual effects and effluence of petroleum production and transport stations. It would be a further advance in the art to provide a balanced, integrated system and method for handling these effluents and their consequences. It would be yet a further advance in the art to provide an integrated solution to environmental effluents resulting in improved overall efficiencies in the operation of production and transport systems.